1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to large industrial type printing machines, and more particularly to a system for mounting and advancing a printer liner within an interior compartment, such that a continuous feeding of a liner is advanced without the need to access the interior compartment of the printer.
2. Description of Related Art
The present invention is directed to large industrial printers such as the MICR Printer/Check Model LN-30 printer which is typically used for printing checks and lottery tickets. Large scale printers such as these operate continuously for hours to generate mass printing output. In order to maintain schedules and operate efficiently, the printer must be operating without constant maintenance and attention by workers. Any improvement which reduces either the downtime of the printers or the intimate attention of a user is a valuable addition to the process.
In the operation of these printers, a liner is placed between the hammer bank and the target material to be printed on in order to enhance the quality of the printing. One example of a liner is Kapton, a thin Mylar-like material which is used in conjunction with the LN-30 printer. Kapton is manufactured by Dupont. The liner is sold on rolls, and individual sheets are pre-cut by the user for use in the printer.
The Kapton liner is used to enhance the printing quality of the printer. The Kapton material is designed to evenly distribute the impact force of the hammers to the drum when printing multi-line characters and symbols. Each section of Kapton liner can be used to print approximately 15,000 lines of print before advancement of the liner is required. Based on a printing volume of 12 hours per day at 5,000 lines per hour, the Kapton requires repositioning approximately every three hours or four times a day.
In the prior art, in order to position the Kapton between the target material and the hammer, an inner compartment must be accessed where the actual printing occurs. A sheet of Kapton is manually placed at the position where the hammers strike the target material on the printer roller. The sheet of Kapton is approximately six inches wide by 2 and a half inches long, and can be secured by pegs, by magnets, or the like. Care must be taken to ensure that the Kapton is aligned properly, and that the Kapton is sufficiently taut to ensure proper printing.
As printing occurs, the Kapton sheet progressively degrades due to the repeated striking by the hammer until the quality of the printing suffers. At this point, the Kapton sheet can usually be manually adjusted once or twice to position virgin Kapton on the present sheet at the designated strike area. Manually adjusting the Kapton involves stopping the printer and disconnecting the power. The interior of the printer must be accessed, and the Kapton realigned manually. Repositioning or replacing the Kapton sheet is a tedious and time-consuming process Although repositioning the Kapton allows more of the area on the sheet to be utilized, the majority of the area on the sheet goes unused because it lies on the periphery where mounting occurs. This task is extremely labor intensive, and Kapton replacement is required approximately every 3 hours of operation.
Every time the printing operation is halted in order to replace or reposition the Kapton liner, the power is disconnected and the internal compartment is accessed. Positioning the Kapton liner is time consuming, and opening the internal compartment exposes the printing operation to dust and contaminants. Once the Kapton liner is in place, the printer must be restarted and the initiation procedure requires an initial warm-up period. Thus, significant costs in downtime and wear, as well as the constant need for special attention, are associated with the continuous replacement of the Kapton liner.